Cleveland, Ohio - Junior southpaw Scott Anderson (Beulah, ND/Beulah) scattered five hits over seven innings as the University of Illinois at Chicago baseball team defeated Butler, 5-3, in the Horizon League Tournament at Jacobs Field on Saturday night.

With the victory, UIC (39-15) advances further into the winner's bracket against UW-Milwaukee at 11:00 A.M. (CST). UIC needs to defeat the Panthers twice on Sunday in order to capture the Horizon League Championship. Butler ends its season with a record of 34-23.

Anderson, who struck out two batters, improves his record to 3-0 on the 2002 campaign, while Butler starter Troy Parton falls to 2-2. UIC reliever Charlie Hahn (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) allowed one run in the final two innings to pick up his first career save.

Junior Curtis Granderson (lynwood, Ill./T.F. South) led UIC offensively as he went 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Granderson was a home run shy of the cycle. Senior John Rosner (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette) went 2-for-4 with two RBI and tied the UIC record for career hits with 224, while sophomore Mike Lorenzo (Lockport, Ill./Providence) went 2-for-2 with two RBI.

UIC got on the board in the bottom of the first inning as Granderson lined a 2-out double to left center. Rosner followed suit and plated Granderson with another RBI double to left-center to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. Lorenzo (Lockport, Ill./Providence) drove in Rosner with a RBI single to right field to extend UIC's lead to 2-0.

UIC added another pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning as Mike Hughes (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) and Granderson opened up the frame with back-to-back singles to put runners at first and third with one out.

Lorenzo stepped to the plate and and promptly launched a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Hughes for his second Rbi of the day to push the Flames lead to 3-0.

Junior designated hitter Chuck Peters (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) roped a single to put runners at first and third for junior catcher Kevin Nelson (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows).Nelson drove in Granderson from third with a RBI single to extend UIC's lead to 4-0. .

Butler got on the board in the top of the seventh inning as Bulldogs left fielder Paul Beck took the first offering from Anderson iver the left-field wall to cut UIC's lead to 4-1.

UIC answered right back in the bottom half of the frame as Granderson connected for a one-out triple that sailed over the head of Butler center fielder Matt Crews. Rosner then brought him home with his second RBI double of the day to extend the Flames' lead to 5-1.

Butler narrowed the gap to 5-3 behind a RBI groundout from second baseman Jeff Steele and a solo home run from first baseman Ryan Nance, but Hahn shut the door on the Bulldogs to preserve the victory and the Flames' title chances.